Water crisis hit Herwood residents in Caluza

While everyone is enjoying the holiday season, Herwood residents in Caluza, under Msunduzi Municipality, have endured a painstaking three weeks without water.

With visitors descending many homes for Christmas, hosting visitors and trying to cook with dry taps has turned the festive holiday season into an exhausting nightmare for many residents.

Speaking to the publication, the residents said they never thought that would spend their holidays in this situation.

I thought I was going to rest these holidays since I am on leave, but now I have to fetch water from the water tanker all the time.

“We even now have to be careful not to use too much water when we are bathing and doing other chores that needs water. It is very stressful,” said one resident.

Another resident said they are desperate for the water supply to be restored as they do not want to start a new year with no water.

Some residents are relying on water tankers, which do not come every day, while others rely on getting the water from the river or from the neighbours.

Ward councillor, Siphiwe Phungula, told Weekend Witness that there are few houses that have water in their taps, which is confusing.

He said the problem started shortly after they had fixed a burst water pipe that runs from Landerville to Herwood.

“A large portion of area does not have water, but there are few residents who do have water, we do not know how that happened. We have been checking if there are any leaks that might be the cause of this but we have not found any.

“The Msunduzi Municipality water department has been visiting the area to check the problem but they have not found anything so far. The residents are getting water from the water tankers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Msunduzi Municipality spokesperson, Ntobeko Mkhize, said the municipality is aware of the interruption of water supply in the area and the burst pipe is due to illegal connections.

The burst is on the main pipeline, due to the illegal connections that were discovered on the pipeline. Our teams are on the ground attending to the matter, however, the location of the pipe is also not easily accessible due to houses that have been built on the water servitude where the pipe is located.

“This is therefore causing delays in completing the repairs,” she said.

She further appealed to the residents and the community at large to not encroach on the pipeline servitude.

“This is a risk to their lives and property and it hampers the municipality’s efforts to maintain the infrastructure. Whilst our teams are attending to the repairs, a water tanker has been dispatched to supply water to the affected community.”

In other news – RIP: Actress Leleti Khumalo pays tribute to her ex-husband Mbongeni Ngema

Mzansi writer, lyricist, composer, director, choreographer, and theatre producer, Mbongeni Ngema’s ex-wife Leleti Khumalo has shared a tribute to the late veteran playwright.

Ngema died shortly after being attended by doctors at Adelaide and OR Tambo Memorial Hospital in Mbizana in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday after following a car crash involving a truck on the R61. Khumalo shared an official tribute statement on her social media platforms sending her condolences to the Ngema family. Read More